The Japanese government is offering 1 million Yen per child to families to incentivize them to move out of Tokyo. The relocation fee will be introduced in April 2023.
The payment comes on top of the 3M Yen already available in financial support. This will be offered to families living in the 23 “core” wards of Tokyo, other parts of the metropolitan area, and the neighbouring commuter-belt prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa.
What Is The Scheme?
The government is offering 1 million Yen to encourage families with children up to 18 years of age to move to rural areas. The support for children comes on top of a flat 3 million Yen that families can already get for moving.
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Nikkei Business newspaper reports, ”The scheme has struggled to capture the public imagination since it was launched three years ago, with support provided to 1,184 families in 2021 – the year teleworking became more common – compared with 71 in 2019 and 290 in 2020.”
Why Is It Being Implemented?
Hindustan Times reports, ”Owing to the Covid pandemic, Tokyo’s population fell for the first time last year but Japan’s policymakers believe that much more needs to be done in order to lower the population density in the city.”
As more youngsters move away for opportunities in cities, Japan’s rural ‘unfashionable’ areas have seen rapid depopulation in recent years. In order to uplift rural regions and ease pressure on resources and public services in Tokyo, the policymakers have devised this scheme.
Japan’s villages and unpopulated towns have highlighted the charms of rural life and other facilities in the areas. Among them is the availability of “eligible men,” as in the case of Otari village, and easy access to childcare.
How Will The Families Receive Benefits?
To receive the benefits, families must move outside the greater Tokyo area. Some could also receive the payment if they migrate to mountainous regions. This scheme has been joined by about 1,300 municipalities, and states.
Families also have to adhere to certain conditions to avail the benefits of the scheme. The family must live in their new homes for at least five years, and one member of the household must be at work or plan to open a new business. Those who move out before five years will have to return the cash.
Everyone wishes to have peaceful lives, and villages provide them, no doubt. But the very reason why the shift happened – facilities- that the cities have, can be fulfilled by the unpopulated villages, is still a lingering question.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Hindustan Times, The Guardian, NDTV
Find the blogger: Katyayani Joshi
This post is tagged under: Japan, scheme, overpopulation, migration, de-populating, villages, towns, cities, policymakers, policies, Kyodo, unfashionable, country, mountainous, population density
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